Loneliness in the Night
by millennium rod
Summary: Thiefshipping fluff. Bakura lies awake in the middle of the night, remembering how many times people have left him, when Malik makes him a promise. Somewhat ooc, by the way.
1. Loneliness in the Night

As I awaken in what I assume to be the dead of night, drenched in the sweat of a nightmare and only just regaining my senses, the very first thing I notice is him. His scent, his looks, and especially the way he feels- lying within my embrace, his hair tickling ever so slightly at my nose. And on top of that, he's so _warm, _like nothing I could have ever imagined. The only thing I want, no, the only thing I _need_, is to pull him closer, so close that he'll become a part of me, one that will never leave.

It's almost pathetic, really, how I tend to dwell on impossible dreams such as that. Because as I of all people, should know, happiness doesn't last forever. People will leave, whether it be through boredom, death, or aggravation. The only question that can be found in that is, when? How long will we be able to live through these days before I face that inevitable heartbreak yet again? Will I be ready to see it happen? To lose yet another person that I foolishly began to care about?

The easiest thing in the long run would be to push him away now. While I can still feel his heartbeat and hear him take a breath, I should force him to hate me, like the rest of the world already does. Even if he spends the rest of his days cursing me as he does the pharaoh, it will lighten the load that I will end up with when he leaves this world.

It's too bad, really, how impossible this seems, even to me. Despite the promise I made long ago to never get close to anyone- especially not someone who, unlike myself, would eventually die- I found myself in a state that was as close to "falling in love" as someone like me could ever get.

I could leave, right now. Slip away in the darkest hours, in a time where he can't stop me. Yet this also proves to be impossible, as all I can seem to do is pull him even closer, bury my face in his messy blonde hair, and do something I haven't done since I was a small abandoned boy in the middle of the desert. It starts off as a few tears pricking at my eyes, but before I know it, sobs are shaking my entire body, and they won't seem to stop, no matter how hard I try. Millennia worth of emotions that I had previously struggled so much to hide came pouring out of me, as I yet again came to the realization that my time with someone I had grown to care so much about would eventually come to an end.

Leaving me all alone in this world, once again.

Suddenly, I feel him stir ever so slightly. I momentarily fear that I had woke him up, and as his eyes gradually open and gain focus, I try desperately to compose myself. Eventually, he turns around in my grasp, so that he's staring up at me.

"…You're crying," he said, the tone of his voice obviously surprised, despite the sleepy lack of emotion on his face.

I force a bitter smile. "Obviously," I respond to him, my voice shaking. "Anyone could have figured that out."

"Bakura…" he frowns, then brings a hand up to my face, attempting to wipe away some of the tears. In a moment of weakness, I let him. "Did something happen? I've never seen you like this."

I pause. What could I possibly tell him, at a time like this?

"…Hey, Malik," I finally say, my voice still hoarse from crying, although I've settled down a bit. "How long do you think this can go on for?" He continues to stare at me, a look of confusion crossing his face.

"What are you-"

"You know exactly what I mean." Upon having to explain it, I almost started crying for the second time that night. "I've lived for over 3,000 years, and more than once, I've found myself growing closer to people. I always try to stop it, but in the end, I always end up hurt. I have no choice, Malik. I need to push them away, because if I don't, they'll leave anyways, and it'll only be harder to let them go. Humans die. That's the way it is. You're going to die eventually, too. And at this point, I should have come to terms with that." I couldn't help it- I buried my face in his chest, pulling him as close as I possibly could. "So why? Why do I get so upset at the thought of losing you?"

Malik said nothing for several minutes, yet I didn't need him to. All I really needed was for him to be there as I let myself go for the first time in thousands of years.

Finally, he said something to break the silence. "It's never an easy thing," he said, "to lose someone you love. It doesn't matter how many times it happens. The pain never really goes away, does it." He smiled sadly. "No matter how cruel that person is to you, or how well you got to know them. If they were ever important to you, you don't want to let them go. It's that simple."

"Malik, I-"

"I know I don't really understand," he continued, cutting me off as though he hadn't heard me. "So I probably have no right to tell you how to feel. But I promise you, Bakura. Even though death will eventually separate us, that will be the only thing. I promise." And then he kissed me- not rough or intense, like the ones we had normally shared in the past, but slow, even gentle. And yet, it was still just as nice, if not nicer than usual. Despite the fact that it was completely out of character for me- just as the rest of this slightly odd night had been- I realized that I really did have someone here for me, even if it was just for a fleeting moment.

Not that it really mattered, at that moment.

Xxx

So sappy and OOC, I know, but it does sort of fit a personal headcanon of mine. Bakura, having lived for so long, has met multiple people. Maybe even grown close to some of them. But obviously, for one reason or another, they all left him. And while it's not the _only_ contributing factor, I do think that loneliness- even during his time in Ancient Egypt, when he lost whatever friends and family he had at an extremely young age- played a part in his personality by the time the series starts. So I guess that's where this came from. And I just wanted to write Thiefshipping. Oh, by the way, I have an idea in mind for a sequel, so please look forward to it! Oh, and feel free to review, too~


	2. Remembrance in the Night

When I first heard that you were gone, I didn't believe it. How could someone like you, so strong and resilient, have been defeated at all, let alone by the very people we wanted to kill only some time ago? It was so insane, so ironic. The king of thieves brought down by his sworn enemy the pharaoh. And yet, it was so predictable it bordered on obvious. The good guys were going to win, and we, the lowly, scum-of-the-earth villains, never stood a chance. It was the sad truth of the world we lived in.

Still, it was strange. For the first couple of months after your demise, it didn't bother me. I pushed it to the back of my mind, as I struggled to maintain my grasp on my new life as a non-tombkeeper, as well as my newfound friendship (if one could truly call it that) with my- our- former enemies. I wondered if I had simply become numb, despite everything we had shared during our time together, which, in my case, included everything I had.

To this day, I still wonder what triggered it. It was one of those things that seemingly came out of nowhere, although I also wonder if it had simply built up over time, like some sort of bomb with an ever-shortening fuse.

It came at around 3:00 in the morning, as I remember. As of late I had become a bit of an insomniac, so being completely awake at that time was nothing new for me. I remember it started with a sleepy old memory, one that, once it struck me, made me wonder why I had ever forgotten.

It was a feeling of thin arms wrapped around me, those of a man who was cold in mind and body alike. I could hear the faintest cry from him, as his grip tightened.

"…Bakura? Are you crying?"

I recalled that it was that night that I first believed I understood you. You showed me that behind the cold, calculating exterior that most people saw, there was genuine, raw emotion. He was the loner that hated to be alone.

I also remembered that I had made a promise that night. We had, in that one, incredible moment, formed a bond that could never have been broken.

It amazed me, once it all came rushing back, that I could have suppressed such a memory for so long. I smiled bitterly.

"Hey, Bakura," I said to the air, wondering if there was a chance in hell that you could hear me. "I wonder if I really ever believed that I could keep that promise. If either of us could."" I gripped my pillow, close to tears despite the laughter that escaped my lips. "I forgot, Bakura. I haven't thought of you in months. I wonder if anyone has." I sincerely wondered, too. Was there anyone else left in this world who had been impacted enough by his presence to care about his absence?

"But that's fine," I said, my voice shaking along with the rest of my body. "I mean, you probably couldn't think of me, either. Even if you really did care, it's not like you ever had the chance to think about me, after we parted ways." It was probably cynical of me to think that way, although lately, I had become cynical towards most things. I suppose it's just one of the many things I learned from you.

"…Why did we have to part ways, anyways?" It was a question that, even if I hadn't realized it, was bothering me to no end. We may have been close while we knew each other, but in the end, our "relationship" had been incredibly brief.

And due to the promise we had made that night, it only seemed like some sort of cruel irony that had forced us apart.

"?...I really did love you, you know," I whispered, my voice so silent that even I needed to strain my ears to hear it. "You could be an asshole, and you weren't even close to perfect. But damn it, Bakura, neither was I. And that was why we worked."

It was an odd twist of fate that two people, so different yet far too like, would manage to find each other. And considering our individual circumstances, it came close to being a miracle. The young tombkeeper, condemned to a life of darkness from conception, and the ancient spirit, cursed to spend eternity in an inanimate object. Two lost souls, brought together by the slimmest of chances.

"I won't- no, I can't- let it happen again." It was nothing short of a resolution to myself. "I'm going to start over. And this time, I'm going to keep the promise I made to you. I won't forget about you again." I smiled to myself as I imagined your confident smirk.

_You had better. I'll come after you if you don't._

"Right." I closed my eyes, sleep coming easily to me for the first time in months.

"I can't let myself forget him again. After all, I do still love him. Always will."

Xxx

I've had this written for a long time, but it took me a while- due to varying circumstances- to get it typed and posted. Still, I think it wraps up this twoshot rather nicely. What do you think?


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